Tracking the Riders
by HavocRider
Summary: Post-apocalyptic story, where crazy fangirls follow the riders during their already tough work. Perhaps DeathXOC & WarXOC. Hope you like it!
1. Chapter 1

I gave what my friend called "the most mischievous grin in the history of mankind" And then again I would answer in a sing-song voice "you forget franky" She looked at me with a blank expression. "Honestly I think you can compete with him"

I laughed "no one can beat franky at that, Nep" She responded with a laughing smile, "sure".

"But don't you think this is so cool? I mean, how many times in your life do you get to see The Riders of the Apocalypse? And at such a close distance!"

"Well…once they discover we're stalking them, it probably will be our last…" she replied seriously. I felt my creepy smile pull on my lips again. "Come on! We're going to lose them!". She huffed at me "With your "Death-radar" I don't believe that's possible". My smile only broadened. We slipped along the trees like the wind itself. A couple of years in the apocalypse had you well trained in the field of surviving. Proof had it, we've been following them for a good week and a half. Mounted on their steeds, they rounded a small cliff which I eagerly started to ascent. I peered over the edge. There they were. Grand and imposing figures. I ducked back behind the ledge and looked at Nepakang. Though she reprimanded me for following them, she had a hard time keeping her eyes off War. "See something you like?" I teased. She snapped out of her reverie and blushed. "We're too close. We should take some distance"

"Let them make the distance, it's fine" I nearly bit my tongue as I heard the horses growing closer and closer. _**Over the cliff? What on earth?**_ Nep grabbed my arm and raced down the hill like all hell was on her heels (which in some way probably was). We literally dove into the bushes (not very discretely if you ask me…). Once to the ground, we started crawling away as fast and farther as we could. We froze from time to time to listen about. When the coast was clear, we moved on. You can never be too careful with The four horsemen. We judged the place where we stopped, far enough. "That was too close. We have to stop this now", "or we can just give them a day or two worth of travel, and follow at a safe distance" I said in an innocent way. She gave me a troubled look, and finally gave in (probably couldn't deny her own curiosity).

We looked for the river we had spotted on our way here. Once we found it, we set up camp. A little fire was breathed to life, and Nepakang started on the cooking. "I'm going to clean up farther down the river yeah?"

"Okay! Just be back for dinner!" She replied in a goofy voice. "Yup!" I marched down the calm resting forest. Once I got far enough, I stripped. The water wasn't as cold as I expected it to be, since it came down from the mountains. The regular stream massaged my muscles and smoothened my skin. It was so refreshing after a whole day's worth of walk (and occasional running). I walked around a little, thankful the river was only chest-deep. The bushes rustled near me making me jump. I lowered myself in the water and waited. It stopped. I waited still.

Then a head poked over the bush. It was pretty massive, skeletal, and engulfed in green flames and…_**Despair**_. I froze (I had that silly same instinct as rabbits when you blind them with the car lights on the high roads). He looked straight at me with those burning green eyes. _**Don't move. Maybe he'll just walk away. Maybe he'll just walk away!**_ Funny how sometimes you get the feelings the events go against you consciously. Despair stepped through the bush and walked slowly into the river.

"No!" I whispered harshly. "Go away! Out! Pshh! Pshh!" I waved my hand at him in the opposite direction while the other hid my chest. Good-ol' Despair just looked at me happily and lowered himself in the stream. I sighed. "Fine. But don't you bring me any trouble, okay?" He nickered softly. Well I didn't expect a rider's horse to be so…positive. I had the unnerving curiosity to find out what he would feel like (being all bones and all). I set my hand out in front of me so he could clearly see my intention. He didn't budge, and actually looked quite expectant. I gradually got closer until my hand touched his nose. No reaction. He felt smooth, and not cold (like bones should be). I pet his forehead slowly, then went to his neck, and his back (The crazy thought of jumping on him and riding outta here did cross my mind). He just relaxed and enjoyed the coolness of the water. "It's nice after a rough day, eh?" He nuzzled my shoulder softly in response. I giggled. "You're not as impressive as you look when you ride into battle" He nickered softly. "I better head back. It was nice meeting you." He watched me step out of the water silently. I draped myself with my cloak, grabbed my clothes and walked away, looking at him one last time.

I all but skipped to Nepakang's side. "Guess what?" I asked with a toothy grin popping my head over her shoulder. She looked absolutely lost as to what could happen in a place like this. "You… took a bath?" she tried. "Yes, and?"

"you fantasized about death when he was actually there?" I blushed. "No." I said flatly. "But Despair decided to join me!" She gave me a disbelieving look. "I swear! And he's a really cool horse too! I actually thought he would charge me or something!"

"Which in your case should have been the logical choice" she teased. I looked at her questioningly. She waved it away and handed me my food bowl (and no, not the same as the dog one…). We devoured quickly and set to sleep, a deep yawn cracking our jaws in the process. "Oyasumi-nasai" Nep called to me. "Oyasumi" I replied, and drifted off to the dream world.

I cracked my eyes open to the light of dawn, and screamed in surprise.


	2. Chapter 2

I cracked my eyes open to the light of dawn, and screamed in surprise.

Right over me, was a happy Despair staring expectantly down at me (I half thought his tail was going to wag). I looked around for Nep checking if she was actually seeing this.

She was. Her eyes looked like saucers, and it was hilarious! I burst out laughing which startled Despair a little. "It's okay! Don't worry! I'm not going to eat you!" He actually looked worried there for a minute. _**This is priceless!**_ "Please tell me you're not the one that led him back here" Nep said getting to her feet. "Me? No! Wherever Despair goes, Death can't be too far! Why would I take such a risk?" The full meaning of what I just said hit me like a slap. I jumped up, got dressed, and packed my things in a mess (I don't think I've ever packed so quickly in all my life!). We stumbled around a bit more, getting rid of the evidence of our presence (camp fire, food tid-bits...) and ran for the hills! Meanwhile, Despair watched our burst of activity like it was the most fascinating thing he'd ever seen.

As we headed for the cliff, I looked behind to find him trotting after us happily. _**Oh dear…**_ I stopped and tried to shoo him away. The same thing as last night happened. Mr. Happy-Go-Lucky just came along. "No! No! You're just going to bring trouble now! If Death ever comes looking for you, we're done for!" So far, you've seen the luck I had, yeah? Well guess what happened next? Yup. The bushes near the river rustled a little, and I caught the sight of black hair moving about. My mind went blank, and I dashed after Nepakang. _**Ohgod,ohgod,ohgod!**_ We zoomed up the hillock (on the other side of which was the cliff) and stopped on the edge. Exchanging panicked glances, we searched for either a way down or some place to disappear momentarily. I checked behind us, only to see the tip of boots come out from under the bushes, and still comin' at us. Before I could voice my thought, Nep had me by the shirt again, and jumped off the cliff. _**What the….!**_ _**AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!**_

Survival. Action. Reaction. We had to "run" down the vertical cliff to try and have some anchor points along the way… Well the ground came far too quickly in my opinion (not that it asks for it…). Pushing off the cliff, we broke our fall, still ending in a bone-jarring land. Although our screaming tibias were shooting lightning-bolts at us, we scurried off for cracks and hollows in the cliff. A curious neigh came to my ears. Looking up, Despair was looking down, and seemed about to…jump?! _**What is WITH that horse?!**_ I had to ignore him unless I wanted to become a new whetstone for the riders.

Luckily (yes we still had SOME), we were small (even by human standards…well at least I am…) and could easily fit pretty much anywhere. Squished, panicked, and highly irrigated with adrenaline, we calmed our breathing until we couldn't hear it ourselves. Only our hearts seemed to sing "Over here! Yoohoo!". A very heavy thump was heard not far from our point. _**I swear, if that horse reveals our location, apocalypse or not, I'm gonna… **_"Despair" came a deep rumble. A chill danced on my spine. _** .GOD! That's him!**_ I looked at Nep with an excited, crazy fangirl smile. She looked….panicked…and…on the downright verge of knocking me out if I ever did something stupid. "Let's go" he said. Despair nickered, and…jumped?

Granted, we've been following them for some time…but we haven't seen them do anything like that! But this was only a supposition. I hadn't actually seen him do it. We stayed there for…probably half a day, before we came out. Their tracks were still fresh and headed for the mountains. It was the beginning of winter…Being further down the valley, we had agreeable temperatures…for now. It was time to get out our heavy cloaks and boot furs.

_**This is going to be a lonnnng walk.**_ We were used to winter though. Born in winter, lived in winter, survived in winter. We were pretty proud of being the descendants of great northern warriors. Hard skinned, great endurance, slightly enhanced strength. We were used to the rough life. We are wild and know the way of the mountains. It's probably because we were isolated in the north that we survived. We kept to the old ways (but don't get me wrong, we still had some technology…otherwise we wouldn't have any culture about the "outside" world). Markings were left on our bodies in proof of our lineage. They're blue, like the "barbarian's" tattoos of the past. Nepakang's dance and shape themselves on her shoulder blades. Mine twirl around my spine like a snake to my upper neck.

A sharp elbow pokes at my ribs. "Oy! Quit daydreaming! We're going to lose them!". So we pick up the speed. Already, we can distinctly see four spots on the base of the mountain, making their way up. _**Good thing they'll be slowed down by the snow…I hope.**_ Having spent half the day in a crevice, hiding away, night is already starting to fall. We have to keep on going though. Keeping too much distance can be a good thing…but in really tall mountains where blizzards occur…it's better to keep at a good eyesight interval.

I look up with a smile "the stars are coming out". Of course, my good friend saw this as the perfect opportunity to throw a snowball at my neck. "Damn that's cold! Aaaah! It's in my shirt!" I squealed, dancing about to get it out. Nep took the opportunity to run. Instead of chasing after her, I find a patch of snow, make a snowball and….Headshot! I laugh and walk up to her. "Do you capitulate?" She looks up at me with a smirk "Never!" and tackles me. We tumble down…most of what we've climbed. After spinning so much, we don't walk very straight, and the ascent is…an interesting experience. After we were done goofing around, we had to find a place for the night. The riders found refuge in a cavern some ways up. We had to catch up a minimum before we stopped. After a small hour's worth of walk, we come near a great pine tree, sturdy enough to support our weight at a certain height from the ground. "This should do it, yeah?" I asked Nep. "sure, I just hope we won't get all sticky with sap" she calls mockingly. "you can always roll around in the snow afterwards to clean it off… And it's only going to be your cloak". She laugh quite a lot at that "says the neat-freak". "I I-I'm not a neat-freak!" I stammered. "okay" she concludes, and starts to climb. As we get comfortable, that unruly neigh came to tickle my ears again. _**Oh, you must be joking!**_ I look down, and sure enough, there he is! _**Ignore him. Ignore him! He's just going to walk away.**_ Of course he didn't. He only neighed louder and started banging the tree with his fore-hoof. I sighed. This was going to be along night!


	3. Chapter 3

I sighed. This was going to be along night!

"Go away! We need to rest! Not everyone has endless stamina!" I called down to him. Despair looked up with what (for a half skeleton-like horse) I could call a cute look. _**Awwww…Makes me want to hug you!**_ I smiled at him. I settled back against the tree, ready to sleep, having already said goodnight to my friend. I hardly had the time to close my eyes when the banging started anew. Nepakang stared with a "you-better-take-care-of-it-or-you'll-get-the-time-of-your-life" kind of expression.

I abandoned my cozy little cocoon I had made myself to jump down in the freezing snow. As soon as my feet made contact with the ground, I regretted it. _** .GOD!**_ I glared ice picks at Despair who came to nudge me happily. I sighed again. Who was I kidding? I couldn't stay angry with this little sweetie forever. I walked away from the tree so Nep could get some sleep while I tried to figure out a way to get Despair to go back to it's owner. "Alright, so how am I supposed to do this?" The horse in question was prancing around me like crazy. "Can't sit still, wan you?" He answered with a small neigh and positioned himself sideways from me, presenting his back.

I stared at him, refusing to believe what he was suggesting. _**He can't be serious.**_ As if to confirm my thought, Despair gave a little nod towards his saddle. My fangirl mind was going crazy and hopping in circles, squealing. My "serious" mind was scowling sternly at the other telling it how irresponsible it was. During my internal turmoil, Despair started prancing again impatiently. _**Girl, this is a one chance only. Who's going to find out anyway?**_ Before I could ponder on that question, I was already settled in the over-sized saddle. _**Quite comfy…Though it's going to be a little loose for me…**_

My crazy grin etched itself on my face again. This was going to be awesome. A night ride under the moon, in the snow, on a horse of legend. Oh yeah!

I felt Despair's powerful hooves hammer the ground in excitement. "All right. Let's have some fun!" I held on to his misty-green flame mane and leaned forward. He lunged into the powder snow, shooting the delicate cold elements in waves everywhere. His ears were perked up, neck arched powerfully, and hinds were kicking madly at the unseen ground. My hair flew about like crazy, wind fingering through my deep brown (almost black) locks. I had never felt so free! The power, the speed, the cold biting at my clothes: euphoria.

We dashed across the few trees, onto a small expanse. Nothing to block our road here! The stars danced above our heads and the snow sparkled under the moon's gaze. Despair was as euphoric as I was (isn't it better to be euphoric together than alone?). We kept going, on and on. His hooves beat their powerful rhythm to the snow. For such a big horse, he seemed to be weightless here.

The mountains loomed over us, covered in their great white mantle. The world of the night opened its arms to us. Quiet, omniscient, charismatic.

For how long we rode, I cannot say, because then, we were timeless, eternal.

Eventually, we knew we had to stop. Without having me ask him, Despair brought me back to the tree Nep was sleeping in. I slid off his back, pat his neck and gave him a kiss on the cheek. "Thanks for that, love. We'll have to do that again some time" He nickered softly and nuzzled my shoulder. I watched him walk back with, almost, a sad look on his face. I chuckled. _**Don't you worry, that was too fun to be our last!**_

I climbed up the tree and settled into my cocoon, now cold, for the small hour (or hours hopefully) of sleep I could have. Nep was snoozing quietly, undisturbed. Sleep claimed me quickly, even though I saw the light of day peek over the mountains.

Despair arrived at a trot to the cave the riders were staying. Death was up, outside, and looking out for him. As he saw his horse come up joyfully, he let out a chuckle. "And where did you go off to, eh?". Despair nickered softly and let him rub his forehead. The three other riders and their mounts came out and readied for the day's ride.

Death was about to mount, when he realized the seat under his hand was a little warm, though just barely. He frowned slightly under his mask, and looked at Despair, who was looking ahead at his equine partners. "Something wrong, brother?" asked War. Death schooled his expression, "Nothing of concern" and mounted.

I woke up to the cold impact of snow against my face, and the raucous laughter of my dear friend. "Ha ha ha ha ha! Too bad we don't have any cameras any more, because that was a keeper!"

I lifted my head towards Nep, still in the tree. _**Oh god…I probably slept for thirty minutes…tops…**_ She grabbed her stuff she had hung up, and jumped down to me. "All right, let's get moving! We need to find breakfast on the road too"

I groaned, but eventually got up (under the encouragements of my friend's snowballs). My body wasn't sore, I was pretty resistant in that aspect. But I do miss my sleep!

We had the luck of finding a few winter berries, and digging up certain edible roots (though they're better cooked than raw). We picked the road nearest to the mountain tops, to have a view on the lower valleys. We quickly managed to spot the riders, lower on the mountain side. They didn't progress as much as I had expected them to (which was good). "If they keep moving at this pace, we could probably go hunting along the way, no?" I suggested to Nep. "Sure, but you're going. I'll keep a watch on them in case they take an unexpected turn or something." I nodded and stepped off the trail, tracking any hints of wildlife we could take for our screaming stomachs.

I stringed my bow, set an arrow to it, and started the hunt.

**A/N: I had so much fun writing the night ride! How I wish I could actually do that!**

**I hope you guys like it! And thanks for the previous encouragements!**


	4. Chapter 4

I stringed my bow, set an arrow to it, and started the hunt.

With all the snow, one would expect the traces of prey to be much easier to find. However, I couldn't find anything for quite some time… It was only when I went a little higher upon the mountain side that I did. Fresh tracks from the look of it. A rabbit, a hare probably. I was traveling upwind, and so had no trouble in being discovered by sent. Hearing would probably be another matter though. I walked on for a few minutes, until I finally found the little creature. It nibbled innocently a resisting tuft of grass (surprisingly enough). I positioned myself to shoot, muscles tensed, breathing slow and controlled, ready.

My fingers twitched, ready to let go of the string. I was so focused on my little rabbit, I didn't quite understand why a puff of snow jumped at me. The exceedingly loud roar though, caught me up on the situation fast. The teeth didn't land too far from my head either. The hare bolted. I had luck enough that the monster was….playful and chased after it. I hurried to cover myself behind the very few trees present. The beast was otherworldly, uglier than sin and probably far worst that those that would have committed them. It had nothing but tough leathery skin, a few hairs here and there, but massive claws and teeth the likes of which would cut through us like a knife through unrefrigerated butter. After a quite speedy reflection, I thought it wouldn't be too wise to let such a monster live. I sprang my bow again, and went after it.

As I walked along its trail, a voice came to tickle my ears. I looked a little downhill, and Nep was waving her hands at me vigorously. I sighed. "What?" I call down to her. She speaks incomprehensible words. _**Well that's helpful…**_ I repeat myself again, only this time, someone else decided to join in. The mountain side rumbled, and creaks seemed to spread across the upper snows. I paled. _**Oh shi…**_ I spun to my friend "AVALANCHE!". But of course that only helped it move faster… We had barely done a few steps, the powerful rumble was upon us! The only thing I was aware of was the continuous spinning and churning amidst the moving mass. Snow clutched at my clothes and seemed determined to drag me to the depths. The continuous spin would've had me sick rapidly had it not been for the snow and ice to keep me in my right mind.

I felt my speed slow down somewhat and hopefully thought our turmoil would be over. "Swimming" through snow waves is a mighty task I would not recommend anyone in their right minds… But so, I managed to spare a glance at our heading. A little cliff was there to welcome us out, and into the air! Human snowball, LAUNCH! Our trajectory was a rather good ellipse (with good hang time to boot), until I saw an unexpected and unavoidable obstacle on my path. _(After "snow swimming", try "air swimming"! Even less possible!)_

My surprised, shocked, adrenalined-hypened eyes stared into smoldering ember ones, behind an ivory mask.

.**...****.!**

I air tackled him off Despair and into the powdery snow behind. My world went blank. I mean literally. All I could see was snow and….oh wait… _**That's his…chest…!**_ I landed flush against him. My heart picked up and my body increased of a few degrees. He wasn't moving, and I didn't dare to. He was…warm…for someone who spent his time shirtless. It felt like some time went by, and still no reaction. Very slowly, I tried getting up and looking to him. He stared down at me with an unwavering, piercing gaze. I blushed subconsciously, though still aware of the dangerous situation I was in. He studied my face, then spoke "Who are you? You've been following us for quite a while now." I blushed more if that was at all possible. I was so nervous, I had no idea what to do. My body moved before I could even think. I plunged to the right (from sitting astride him). He caught my wrist in a flash and pulled me back to him. Once again, I was pressed flushed against him. Only this time, he held my head up so that I had nowhere else to look. "Answer the question" he ordered dryly. I gulped and my brain short-circuited on the options available to me. As I was about to blabber some nonsense, the snow covering us was being brushed away. A tall man, covered in a red hood with two white bangs coming down the sides looked down at us with his ice-blue eyes.

Death let go of my face and held my wrist instead. He stood up and dragged me along. "There's another one, brother" said War. Death looked slightly to the side and saw Nepakang standing there next to Ruin.

"We apologize for the trouble. We didn't mean to cause such a raucous. A monster attacked us as we were hunting. Then the avalanche came down…and us along with it" Nep explained tactfully. "Yet you've been following us for some time now" Death repeated to her. Nep glanced at me, then kept on going. "Well…you ARE the horsemen of the Apocalypse. You can't expect to walk around unnoticed here."

"Humans…?" muttered Strife to his sister. She gave him a stiff but uncertain nod in response. "And where are you headed for?" demanded Death ignoring her fan declaration.

"Well…with you guys! If that's okay… We don't really have anywhere else to go…" (which was true) She gave a little of her puppy-eye action. War and Death looked at each other. -hooded-frown didn't seem against it (if anything, he seemed to want to take Nep along). Death gave a "I-couldn't-care-less" expression through his mask.

Nepakang beamed a triumphant smile at me, then blushed and shied when War turned to look at her. He mounted Ruin and extended a hand in her direction. She looked really surprised and took it. He swung her up in the saddle in front of him.

Death let me go and mounted Despair. But he turned around and started walking away. The others seemed as confused as I was. Strife was about to offer me a ride when he interjected. "She can walk. They've shown enough capacity in that aspect." None of them dared to go against their oldest sibling. I stood, mouth agape. "Excuse me?" I exclaimed. "Your brother is courteous enough to offer a ride to my friend, but I get to walk? So much for the legendary riders!". He raised an eyebrow at me "so you do have a tongue". I glared at him "I didn't feel inclined to use it before" I retorted holding my head proudly. He gave a short chuckle, and led Despair away. The others followed, including Ruin with my friend, and her idol behind her. I mentally fumed, and started to walk behind the horses. I loathed them a little for their arrogance and superior attitude, but I couldn't show it. I remained as expressionless as the snow around me.

As time went by though, I thanked the fact that I walked. I imagined myself trapped on one of those saddles with one of the legendary horsemen (Death was out of the picture). Down on the ground, I had my freedom.

I managed to keep up surprisingly easily with them. Which also seemed to surprise them, for they looked back at me from time to time. All except Death of course (the one person I would've liked to have some info about).

We walked well throughout the day, and Nep and I had to eat along the way (though she was sitting, and I walking). As the sun started to set on the western mountains, casting us in shadows, the gang started to search for a nice place to rest for the night. Luck was with us, and a smallish cave offered itself.

We all managed to fit inside. Nepakang leaned against War for warmth and comfort in the night. I however, waited for Death to fall asleep (or pretend to) so I could go and search for Despair's hospitable heat. He seemed overly glad to see me and welcomed me happily. I pat him gently and talked to him a little, before I snuggled in the crook of his neck and between his fore hoofs. I sighed happily and quickly drifted off to sleep.

Little did I know then, I fell asleep under the burning, watchful gaze of the oldest rider, assessing and pondering on my case.

**A/U: Hello dear friends! I'm sorry for my overly long delay... I hope everyone has been doing well and had nice restoring vacations. Here's the new chapter as you can see (duh! facepalms). I hope you'll enjoy it! Please don't hesitate to leave comments, it's always encouraging to know ones work is appreciated (even if just a little). See you all around!**


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